Following reports of the takeover, the circular said "the Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), (Mr Kofi Yamoah), in consultation with the Chairman of the GSE Council, has suspended trading in the shares of ADB effective March 7, 2018.

"This is to allow the GSE clarify news on a purported take-over of ADB.

"The investing public will be duly informed of the outcome and resumption of trading in the shares of ADB," it concluded.

The suspension in the trading of ADB on the GSE followed news reports that key shareholders of the bank, led by Belstar Capital, had pledged their shares and voting rights, among others to UniBank Ghana Limited.

This meant that uniBank, an indigenous lender, had been given rights of ownership of ADB, which was a state-owned bank until it was listed on the GSE in 2016.

Meanwhile, Graphic Online can confirm that the central bank will denounce the transaction as null and void later today, Wednesday march 7.